Magic Kingdom will eliminate Evening Extra Magic Hours

Recently, I was informed that the Magic Kingdom will eliminate Late Extra Magic hours for onsite guests. It caught me a bit off guard, so I wanted to to further research. According to what I’m seeing, it does appear to be true. Here’s the details:

Switching Evening to Morning

According to my source, the Magic Kingdom will eliminate Late Extra Magic Hours (EEMH) beginning in October 2019. I had originally been provided EEMH for Wednesdays in October, but I was informed to remove them at a later time. I was wondering why I was given that direction. Then a few days later I was informed that I should change all the EEMH for Morning Extra Magic Hours. I figured they were just switching around things.

Well, after watching the first full week of Magic Kingdom park hours go live officially on the Disney World website, there are no EEMH listed for Magic Kingdom! Instead, Wednesday and Friday now have Morning Extra Morning Hours only. I also updated my Crowd Calendar of October based on this report and on the evidence at hand.

No official confirmation

I attempted to reach out to some official Disney sources, but no one replied to my emails. When I noticed the Hollywood Studios had dropped their Evening Extra Magic Hours back in November 2016, there was no official confirmation from Disney World. It was complete radio silence. It took most people a month or two to realize what was going on.

Because there is no official confirmation and we only have 1 week of officially listed park hours on the Disney website, it should still be treated as an unofficial post, but all evidence points to the Magic Kingdom removing Evening Extra Magic Hours and replacing it with an additional Morning Extra Magic Hour.

Late time in the park for sale?

The Magic Kingdom Evening Extra Magic Hours have always been our favorite when staying onsite, especially back when the Evening Extra Magic Hours consisted of 3 extra hours in the park. At this time, it appears that extra time in the park after traditional park closing will consist of Halloween Parties, Christmas Parties and Disney After Dark hard ticket events, each at an additional cost.

Evening Extra Magic Hours could return at some point in the future. Hollywood Studios offered it for a short time after the Toy Story Land grand opening. It’s impossible to predict what will occur, but I’ll keep you updated.

What are your thoughts on the Magic Kingdom removing Evening Extra Magic Hours?

Hi Kenny, I apologize if this has been addressed already in the comments, I haven’t read them all. On the official Disney website, they have EEMH posted for November. Are you saying they may pull those when we get closer to the date? Or, is this just a temporary thing through November 2nd? I don’t want to plan my trip around hours that will eventually be changing. thank you

As an annual passholder, Im getting pretty frustrated with Disney “luring” you in and then snatching it away! WHAT is the point of staying “on site” anymore?? First we had to share eemh with hotels that weren’t even “on site”, and now they are taking them away! So Disney DEFINITELY needs to give us people that stay “on property” a reason to do so, because once they take that away, we have no advantage of staying on property. Look at the new Marqaritaville resort!!! Holy Cow is that resort incredible!!! They have free transportation on the hour to Disney and Universal, plus Sea World!! I love Disney, but they have taken so much away from us lately, that staying at a Disney Resort isn’t worth it anymore. Im very disappointed in Disney. Maybe Universal Studios is going to get my annual pass this year instead of Disney. At least they give benefits to stay at their resorts. Shame on Disney.

We travel over from the uk every couple 0f years. The EMH at magic kingdom are the reason we stay onsite. It’s great to go at around 6pm and then stay till late as the park slowly gets less crowded. We are booked for December for a sspecial Xmas trip staying on site. But maybe when we go for our may trip next year an off site stay may be on the cards. Having to pay for parking at the hotels has taken away the free parking perk. Now the extra hrs at night is going too. On our last trip we met with Grumpy a lot in the parks and hotel. Unfortunately he wasn’t in costume but just working on a different attraction. But I must say he did play the part very well, but maybe he could learn a new role and play Happy for our next visit, especially as this may be our last on site visit with all the perks being stolen away. Let’s just hope they don’t start charging for the buses, monorail and ferry boats next (maybe I shouldn’t put ideas into their heads).

The only thing Universal really has going for them is HP, period. Most of the rides are repetitive. A water park is NOT a theme park, sorry. I’ve been to Disney many times and although their summer last year was considered slow, that certainly wasn’t the case when I was there the second week of December. As far as EMH, Disney has offered them for many years and maybe I’m in the minority here, but I’m really not surprised at all that they have made the decision to no longer do so. Actually I’m really hoping Disney offers more DAH or evening ticketed events at MK. I also expect these special ticketed events will eventually happen after Galaxy’s Edge opens. I went to a TSL event last year and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Disney used to be awesome because of the magic. That was what set it apart from other theme parks. Now the magic is going away with all these paid events. Universal has state of the art amazing rides which do not take 3 to 5 years to build. You dont have to spend your life savings to have an awesome time there. After this trip we are done with Disney for a long time. I guess if you have enough money to throw away for 1 to 3 hours in a park then hey…Disney is your place. Greed doesnt win in the end so the CEOs might want to enjoy it while they can. They forget its the customers that pay their salaries and when customers arent happy you have a problem. People want to say Disney is a business….so it is…so it is.

We are coming in Dec. When I booked last Sept for our free dining bounce back offer I looked on the Dec calender of last year and was so happy that a lot of the parks would be open late and it was the Holiday Season. I am really getting discusted with Disney taking away perks that folks who stay onsite are suppose to get. That is what makes them stay at a Disney Hotel rather than go to a offisite or a rental home. Disney is slowly outpricing the middle class. What once cost us 3500 for airfare and a 10 day 9 night stay at POR is now costing us 4200 for a 9 night 10 day stay at the Pop. Not to mention if you want to stay in the parks you have to pay. Ummm NO THANKS. I cannot justify spending for our family of 4 over 400 dollars for 2 hours to ride SDMT and a few other rides. The parties were suppose to limit folks and when we were there in Sept and attended the MNNSHP it was packed. Not to mention the first parade was cancelled due to weather, not Disney’s fault but had they limited the tickets we would have been able to actually see the parade instead of hearing it in a huge crowd. Walt is rolling in his grave and I am sure disappointed with the greed,

Well just another way Disney has screwed pass holders! Slowly but surely prices will rise and any extra perks will be removed! Being a pass holder at the ridiculous prices n crowds is rly really worth it! The hours helped with crowds n now they are gone! Seems having a pass needs rethinking! Get it together Disney!!

I think it might just be a winter time thing, since the winter months seem a little less crowded and the weather permits more day time visits. Summer with the hot weather will make it more feasible to go later in the day.

We bought into DVC because this was one of the perks we were sold on. We do not have small children and parents are older and require wheelchairs while at the parks. The early morning hours are great for little children who get up early but by the time the late magic hours roll around they usually are leaving and it’s a better time to try and navigate the park with those in wheelchairs. Not as many strollers around make it much easier. I feel like we were baited, hooked …and sold on this perk then they discontinue it. I’m very very sad and disappointed.

There has been so many changes to Disney World in the past few years, that it saddens me. I’ve been coming to Disney World with my family since I was a little girl, and now I come with my boys who are 13 and 11. Both of them made their first visit to Disney World at 9 months. The late nights at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot , animal kingdom all are amazing. The stuff they do with lights is just so magical. For them to not see that, is beyond me. I also heard recently that they are removing all smoking sections from Disney Parks. I myself am not a smoker, my mom is. Now going to Disney World will be a bit of a chore. As my mom does require a wheelchair to get around. Every time she wants to have a cigarette, and if you are a smoker you know that that’s fairly often. You now have to leave the park, go outside the front gates to a smoking section there. To return back into the park you have to go through security all over again, which takes a good portion of your time. And now on top of that they’re removing the extra magic hours at night. I understand for the non-smokers, as I am one of you. It’s nice to not have to walk through a cloud of smoke, but Disney has a lot of places that they can put their smoking sections where nobody has to walk through. There’s lots of places and Disney has enough property to open up a small section to allow for smoking. I think when you remove the smoking sections, though the percentage of smokers vs. Non-smokers is decreasing, but it’s still there. You’re going to loose customers , and with the lack of customer service and late-night option being taken away , they are going to go elsewhere. Especially with universal opening up a water park. They’re nipping at Disney World heels, and Disney World is failing. Disney World is falling behind in the race. I was there in the fall, and got some information on the vacation club. I came home I did my research, and I was all ready to buy a vacation club. I was ready to become a member. After hearing all of this news, and the increase in prices. I’m just not sure. Its supposed to be a magical place, but when you’re removing all the magic,that makes it magical, it’s just a regular old theme park at that point. I live in Ontario, Canada. We have a theme park called Canada’s Wonderland. There was a point I would never have put both Disney and Wonderland in the same category. But, with what Disney World is doing and the lack of customer service. I feel your right on par with it. Don’t get me wrong Canada’s Wonderland is fun, but it is no Disney World. But then again, Disney World is no longer Disney World.

AMEN…agree with everything you’ve said. They’re taking the “magic” out. I LOVED the EEMH and we’d take full advantage of them since our granddaughters are now teenagers. There was nothing more “magical” than walking through an almost empty (compared to daytime) park at night. Your are SO right on smoking areas also; all the parks are big enough to find “less traveled areas” for smokers and personally, I’ve met some of the NICEST people in DSA’s. Always made my day meeting others from all across the US and the world. Eliminating EEMH will send more guests to Disney Springs making a visit there a nightmare because of the crowd! Very disappointed with some of these decisions.

I am absolutely thrilled my children won’t have to walk by those wafts of smoke. That is a huge win! Smoking is deadly and disgusting, and the area at Animal Kingdom is unavoidable. You have to smell the smoke to get to Asia from Africa. I don’t understand how if your mom wants to smoke and obviously shouldn’t if she’s already in a wheelchair, then somehow that’s a negative point for Disney?! What a win!! We’re Passholders from up North and this doesn’t affect us too much. We’ll still go!

Wow I hope Disney pays attention to this post! This proves people are very unhappy with the way Disney is headed. Like someone said, if Disney really needs money which I highly doubt but if they do then take the millions from the CEO and build a couple of more parks to help with crowd control. Obviously raising pricing is doing nothing for crowding. There are a lot of people with money that are willing to pay whatever Disney says to pay!

I am a first time AP from MN. 2 years ago we stayed on property for the first time. The extra hours were the only reason we stayed on property. And I’m a night owl so the late emh were perfect. Less crowds, cooler weather and the park at night is beautiful. Awesome picture opportunities. But with this news, I’m afraid our next trip will be our last on property. No free overnight parking, no free package delivery and now no late emh.

Wondering what would Walt and Roy think of this? Did they not think of bringing high quality experience through expansion and innovation as core values instead? After all Walt initially hired imagineers to avoid mistakes other parks were doing and now I don’t know that people are feeling the sense of satisfaction they’d expect especially when paying to stay onsite for those perks. I’d personally prefer seeing alcohol out of quick meals instead. Let’s see how this turns long run. Either way the public will KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

Running the middle class people out and the rich are only ones can afford to go. Its all about money in someones pocket. You are nickel and dimeing on everything. People are gonna just stop going. Cheaper to go to universal as they dont nickel and dime you for everything and they even say they dont want to be like Disney.

As a person with a sleep disorder that makes getting up early literally impossible, this is very unwelcome news. I simply can’t use morning hours.
We love staying on-site to stay in the Disney magic bubble, but with on-site room quality simply not up to par with comparable off-site moderate and lux hotels, plus the recent trend of de-themeing and loss of unique character, plus loss of on-site benefits, it’s getting hard to justify the costs as they have rapidly escalated in the last few years. I’m pretty sure our next stay will be off-site, which makes me terribly sad!
Also, it’s a tangent, but I agree with other commenters that both the customer service and the manners of other guests seem to have suffered in recent years. Part of our love for Disney has been that we could count on problems being solved in a way that was totally unstressful and pleasant, and that it seemed like everyone at “the happiest place on earth” came to the parks with Jiminy Cricket on their shoulder and a smile for their fellow travelers. I know they can’t explain what gives with other guests, but I do wonder what’s happening with the cast? Did general service standards actually change? Or are staff just failing to go the extra mile now because they need better wages, appreciation, and working conditions?

As a family we have visited Florida and WDW since 1973,coming from England most years.We have loved Disney . My girls are now grown up and we are bringing their husbands and grandchild as well now.In the last few years the parks have been so overcrowded. For us the magic has gone and the prices charged are getting beyond our reach. The only park that maintains the magic is Epcot and this year the flower festival was lovely. I am sad that the level of care for the guests is not there anymore. How can they justify 25 dollars for parking? We paid over 2,500 English pounds for our park tickets this year and having to pay 25 dollars each day to park is outrageous…..even having to pay as hotel guests! So we paid to park at the hotel and then to park in the parks!! Greedy! Last year two rides broke down whilst we were on them….at least this year so far nothing has broken! I suspect we will not come back next year! So so sad!

You were staying on site at Disney and were charged both parking your resort and then at the park gate? If you’re staying onsite you do not have to pay again at the gate, they just scan your magic band. I’m so sorry you had to pay twice if this was the case. Someone should have been more clear.

Completely heartbroken! Extra magic hours at night in the magic kingdom are my absolute favorite. C’mon Disney, i realize you’re a company,
but every single thing is a money grab!! I just.. have so many things to say here, yet no words.

Heartbroken, Kenny. Except for 60 day fastpasses, this was our favorite perk of staying on-site. The Magic Kingdom is so magical at night, especially with lower crowd levels and it is so peaceful. It is the saddest news I’ve ever had from Disney.

Blatant money grab. As a loyal longtime fan, it’s beyond disappointing. As our kids are getting older, late nights were our favorite. I will never pay extra for evenings in the park that used to, and should be , free- especially when the tickets keep going up. We are headed to the Caribbean this year, and looks like next year will be spent elsewhere too.

The late magical hours are sometimes the only way to get on rides you can’t get FP+ for. Also, one of the very few ammenities to staying on park now with fees to park on property as a guest.
As a guest and an AP holder I shouldn’t have to pay to stay on property resort when booked as a guest.
If you aren’t a guest then they should be required to take a bus to the resort not to take up parking for guests.
Magical hours in the evening are much better than the 1 hour in the AM.
They need to start giving things to their guests that are AP holders and Guests of resorts instead of taking away.
They are losing the magic of Disney.

Disney keeps upping their prices yet taking away s vital part that is nice to enjoy where its comfortable to enjoy the park and ride the rides you couldn’t during the day. I’m so disgusted with disney anymore on the prices and the way they continue to gouge patrons. Disney really doesn’t care about the public, it’s the money that counts. I’ve be going for over 20 years and continually watch disney want more and more from public. They make it seem so magical, only thing magical it seems anymore is watching your money disappear. People write comments but do you ever see the upper management that decide on the magic answer, nope. But as long as people go and get conned by disney they will continue their price gouging and false magic to line corporate pockets. Sad Disney very sad, walt should haunt all your asses!!

If it’s such a money grab, nickel-and-dime and cutting corners scheme so that they’ll come out on top in profit, why don’t they slow down with all of the new builds around? Tickets only go up which prices out anyone but the upper middle class+, and yet the parks are still too crowded. I think instead of building more and more new attractions they should take some time and money to reinvigorate their old attractions and property. Surely they must hear the complaints about how quality has plummeted in recent years. It’s not like the parks still wouldn’t be really crowded like they are now if they took a few years to do that!

As a person with a sleep disorder that makes getting up early literally impossible, this is very unwelcome news. I simply can’t use morning hours.
We love staying on-site to stay in the Disney magic bubble, but with on-site room quality simply not up to par with comparable off-site moderate and lux hotels, plus the recent trend of de-themeing and loss of unique character, plus loss of on-site benefits, it’s getting hard to justify the costs as they have rapidly escalated in the last few years. I’m pretty sure our next stay will be off-site, which makes me terribly sad!
Also, it’s a tangent, but I agree with other commenters that both the customer service and the manners of other guests seem to have suffered in recent years. Part of our love for Disney has been that we could count on problems being solved in a way that was totally unstressful and pleasant, and that it seemed like everyone at “the happiest place on earth” came to the parks with Jiminy Cricket on their shoulder and a smile for their fellow travelers. I know they can’t explain what gives with other guests, but I do wonder what’s happening with the cast? Did general service standards actually change? Or are staff just failing to go the extra mile now because they need better wages, appreciation, and working conditions?

I am very disappointed but not at all surprised. EEMH are/were the biggest advantage to staying on property. We love Disney but the pleasure has diminished over the years due to ever increasing prices, wait times, and micromanaging enjoyed by the Mouse. Disney is already out of reach for so many financially. Now the “extra ticketed events” infringe on regular ticket hours to a certain extent.

I understand it seems upsetting to a lot of people, but Disney is maybe starting to become a victim of its own success. The park attendance and hotel occupancy rate is at record high and its starting to impact guest experience in a decidedly negative way.

They have to do something to try and keep overcrowding at a minimum and pricing and perks are 2 of the biggest levers. It stinks for the loyal fans who have spent a lot of time and money in the last few decades and to have the demand levers be applied in a way that hurts those people the most. We still go several times a year and still think Disney is a good value for our entertainment dollar. For now I still think management is trying to do the right thing to deal with the problem brought on by the increased popularity of disney park vacations, but totally get peoples frustrations.

With all of the above reasons, and many more, we are not going back to WDW. Like so many we have seen the decline in so many ways over the years. It’s just not fun anymore, and the magic is gone. I never thought I’d say that. I even write (or used to now) for another site on Disney. We are now making plans to visit other destinations in the US, including state parks and possibly a day at Disneyland, but maybe not! So sad that it’s come to this, for us.

I just think they will end up losing money anyway with people starting to stay off-site rather than on-site as there will be no benefit of it shortly. This will also mean people will feel they may as well go to other parks in Orlando too as they are not bound by disney- so again they will lose the days food, drink and parking revenue. I think disney have seen Universal only have early hours and paid for parking for onsite guests and followed suit. The difference being Universal do not own the hotels so do not fully benefit as much as disney who do own the hotels.

There are so many cheaper hotels people can stay at (which we have done) and other than the EMH (which when we did stay on site was disappointing as not everything was open) guests may as well save their money for these. The disney hotels are lovely but not really Disney themed, especially the more affordable rooms so staying at a cheaper hotel will not be much different. Our hotel offsite was actually just as nice as Old Key West.

My family has been making multiple
Trips to Disney every year since our daughter was
very small. We’ve definitely noticed in the past 2 years a shift in the experience at the parks. Disney parks are losing their charm and becoming a hollow cash cow. Some Cast member experiences on our last trip were well below the norm we’ve experienced before. Everything is about wringing extra dollars from the guests and Charging more for less. I’m
sad but we’re going elsewhere next year for Spring Break. I understand business but Disney’s legacy is about making magical experiences for families. Unfortunately it’s becoming less special and more like any other “amusement” park. Even more sad, I don’t think they care about the people who have these opinions. They will only change (maybe) if enough people make different choices that it impacts their bottom line. Or perhaps a letter writing to the Board about how soul-less Disney has become will get someone to listen.

I have been going to the park regularly since it opened. Back then it was Magic till midnight at no extra cost or having to stay on property.
Times are changing and WDW does not have the Magic it once had. They seem more interested in selling more Special Event tickets than in giving more value to the daily customers. It is sad.

Well, this is disappointing. MK EMH were the only EMH I would utilize. I loved being able to stay in the park until sometimes 2am! As disappointing as this is, I can’t say that I’m too surprised. Disney has been moving more towards the paid extras for quite some time, now. My husband & I have yet to fork over the money to experience one of these events (other than holiday parties) & we probably still won’t. As far as I can tell, this is more of a reason to try to convince the husband to renew APs! APs allow for park hopping. With only morning EMH, one could utilize those hours & then hop to the park with the lowest crowds for the day :)

WDW cannot increase pay for their employees without raising prices. Hundreds of those employees cannot live anywhere in central Florida alone because housing is so high! These employees have been surviving on under $12.00/Hour because after working there for 15 years they have topped out. The employees have to endure all the garbage visitors like to throw at them. It’s still the safest and fun place on this earth!! If you don’t think so don’t complain about it go somewhere else!

At current prices parks are packed and lines are long (for those who don’t utilize every opportunity) so imagine if Disney were “affordable” for the average family. There would be a waitlist to get in. We are a family of 6 now, my husband and I would go several times a year but with kids it’s an every other year treat. We are DVC and AP from out of state so we utilize those perks whenever possible.
Hope everyone continues to enjoy!

As someone who grew up in Florida and even worked for Disney World for a number of years, this continual nickel-and-diming everything you do in the Parks and cutting back the benefits you do get for even staying on the property continues to disappoint me. As a DVC member who joined in 2009, I find trips to Disney World less and less enjoyable with each successive visit. Technology now requires that I plan my trip out in infinite detail some six months in advance and then spend my entire trip trying to stay on a schedule that I planned half a year ago in some sort of demented world where everyone has been forced to become a Clark Griswold. Extra magic hours offered a respite from all that planning and a return to the time I grew up there, where you could just go in get in line for a ride and enjoy it without having to worry about getting a FastPass or face an hour plus wait. If this direction in park operations continues, I will likely start using my DVC points at either non Disney Properties or at DVC loctions that do not have theme patks attached to them.

We were at WDW over President’s Day weekend. Very few late hours. I was really surprised and disappointed with the high crowds that all the parks weren’t open late. We did pay for the hard ticket After Hours at HS and it was the best money we spent at the park. I think next time I go if WDW still has the hard ticket event I might skip the regular admission pass and just go to hard ticket events. Low crowds and a very enjoyable evening.

We have thought of that too – we just did the After Hours at Magic Kingdom and really enjoyed it! Why not skip the day tickets and just sleep in and swim at the resort, then go to the park later and enjoy the low crowds? I can still go to Disney Springs and do all sorts of stuff that do not require me to buy the regular admission ticket. And the After hours ticket still gets me into the park early enough to see fireworks and maybe ride a few rides before the After Hours even begins. Seriously considering it for our next trip if it is still available.

Getting more and more not worth staying onsite. Prices going up and up and favorite things being taken away so they can get more money our of everyone. We go almost every year. But may rethink next years trip.

Really the only reason we stay on property. Food is expensive and not very good, rooms are nothing spectacular and now no EMH. No thank you, Ill still visit Disney but I’ll stay at a Universal Hotel where I will at least get unlimited fast passes for their parks.

I understand why folks feel that Disney is business and need to make money but cutting down on-site perks while also raising prices is going to make it pointless when you can get more for less elsewhere. Disney is pushing how far they can go before it hits their bottom linew; wonderingwhen that will be.

Evening Extra Magic Hours are the main reason I stay on property every time I go to Disney. (Out of state annual passholder). And I still pay for Not so Scary and Very Merry parties. I’m not sure I’ll be staying with the mouse from now on without this benefit.

I just returned from WDW with my husband. We stayed at the Polynesian Resort. I live in Florida and hadn’t been to the parks in over 25 years. I practically lived there through college! I visited the parks at least 6-8 times a year until my mid twenties.
Last week was the first time I cried at Disney. The first ride broke down. The second ride was barely working. I went to The Carousel of Progress took my seat and as we approached the last scene it stopped 3/4 of the way in. I could see and hear the last set. The ramp to the People-Mover was broken. I could go on but, let’s just say I won’t spend anymore money at Disney. How could they do this to Walts memory? They better pray the cryogenicly frozen rumors are really false!

I had a friend go over Spring Break that hadnt been there in 7 years and she said the magic just wasnt there anymore. Also she said it was the first time that Disney was dirty..trash on the ground. The quality is already declining. Greed will work against them. She said this is her last trip maybe forever. People dont want to spend their life savings to go to just any amusement park. What once made Disney stand out is quickly going away. It makes me so sad for our upcoming trip. I just hope the kids dont notice and get disappointed this trip!

People pay loads more for many sporting event and concert tickets than what we pay for a full day of Disney entertainment. Those venues also have high food and parking fees. Dislike the rising prices and reduced perks but expect we will continue to see more of the same. Disney is a business and a successful one at that. Capitalism at its best!

Lynn I couldn’t agree more. I’m surprised when folks complain about the price of Disney but don’t think twice for sporting events or Broadway shows. I think it’s because they equate Disney with kid stuff. “Shouldn’t kid and family friendly entertainment cost less?” Your point is strong and not brought up enough when we talk price hikes and Disney.

Mr Disney would not be happy. His vision is fading away. This was to be a place where families could go and enjoy quality time with their family without having to break an arm and a leg. Cost are ridiculous. Bad enough admission rates are skyrocketing and add price of parking to that makes it unaffordable for a whole lot of people. Our family has been going since Wdw opened. Sad to say will be looking elsewhere for our adventures. This is what happens when family no longer has a say and corporate greed takes over

What else can they take away for people staying on property. Sad. Greed and money takes over. Prices are high enough and busy times we need those extra magic hrs without having to buy another ticket to enjoy the late evening hrs.

Shame as half the time if you go in morning while staying on site it is just for a few attractions not the whole park like in evening , it’s bad enough now with their new fast pass as only able to book 3 in advance at same park where you used to be able to pick up maybe 2 xnpasses for mine train ,, then another 2 as you went along .

Wow, seems like Disney is charging for EVERYTHING now. Really trying to nickle and dime (or in their case, quarter and half dollar) families anymore. Glad we will be going in a few weeks because I don’t think we will ever be able to visit Disney again with all these new charges.

I don’t like it one bit, every time Disney makes a change it cost us. Paid parking at the resorts annoyed me now this. I will let my passes expire and return to UNIVERSAL I can’t afford Disney anymore so sad

Yes after our trip in May we already said we are doing Universal in the future. They are planning a lot of new lands and get it done quickly and even though they are expensive, they run great promotions where I can get 2 park days free, cheap hotel stays, and a free unlimited fastpass by staying at their hotel!

Same here! Mine expire in June. I’m done with their greed. I logged onto mydisney at 7:00am at 60 days out to get my fast passes. The 4 days I am there, no slinky ones are available, but for $210.00 I can attend after hrs with my son… no thanks!

Disney is just interested in making money. They do not care about customer service. It is not enjoyable going to the parks anymore. They are too expensive, too crowded and feel sad that the younger people are not experiencing what we did. Just glad that we were able to enjoy the parks in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It is not the same! Walt Disney would be very disappointed in his “ Dream”, if he were alive.

WOW, just wow! I love Disney, but I am really getting upset with their “let’s see what we can charge extra for now” attitude. The parks are over crowded now, and the late night hours on the few days they had it, provided an opportunity to ride more rides in a shorter period of time, stroll around and just enjoy the ambiance, and have light crowds. I was upset when the discontinued the night time parade, but this is just insane. It also bothers me that they continue to build more hotels when the ones they have don’t fill to capacity. All of this affects the profit margin, Disney!!

looking at responses, they’re not eliminating late nights all together. They will still have hours during peak season where the park will be open late I’m sure. It’s not like they’re closing at 9pm every day and that’s the end of it.

They don’t take them away once they are officially released. I don’t know the future beyond October, but they did the same with AK, then HS. Only EP will have late EMH after Oct 1 and it does not currently offer a late paid event.

Im glad Im going in May! We are doing one onsite stay for the sole purpose of MK evening emh! We are night owls and loved the days of MK being open until midnight and then EMH from 12 to 2. Everyone kept saying the extra events arent affecting other people. Well, heres the proof they are! We are going to enjoy this trip…my daughter is graduating high school!….but not sure when or if we could ever afford to come back! This trip is almost not happening due to price increases in tickets and food!!

Disney must have that one person on staff that goes around seeing what else can be cut or charged for. This nickel and dime strategy is getting very old! There are wonderful options for family vacations that don’t begin to cost this much! I do hope Disney is aware, I am a Shareholder, it is starting to concern me.

And how is this effecting the cast members? Since all the special paid events, I have seen a rise in entitled park guests and stressed Cast Members. This has reduced the magic in the parks. What used to be totally random and magical stuff is now planned and purchased and it’s not the same feeling in the parks. I think it has an overall negative effect on CMs and then that trickles down to guests. I think the cms need some pampering! Hope Disney will share the revenues with them in lots of ways.

As a Cast Member, thank you so much! I have to mantain “show” at all times, keep a smile on my face even in stressful moments. I love Disney, and yes, we do get free Park admission and some discounts. But we definitely deserve to be paid more. I’ve served some very lovely people, but also countless entitled assholes. I rarely get a day off because I need hours, I can’t call in because of the very strict system, and I have made more money for Disney selling merchandise and food in a couple of months than I’ll ever make in a lifetime.

do You think they’ll have paid after hour events in October. I like those better it’s always less people. But it really isn’t right to price everyone out of enjoying the parks when they’re not so packed. At some point Isn’t it enough profit?

And in my opinion, the effect on cm’s is noticeable too. How can they compete with so many magical paid events? They used to be the ones who provided all the magic, and now, All the magic has been pre-planned and pre-purchased.

That could be. For whatever reason, they’re wanting more revenue and they’re going to get it. If expenses are up, then they will find a way to pay for whatever they need to cover it and still make a profit.

Believe me, we don’t really make enough money for what we do as Cast Members. No one but the people up top are making $15 a hour right now. I’m paid $13, but I rarely get a day off because of the struggle to get 8-10 hour shifts.

I don’t have an issue really, as I employed the strategy of avoiding the park that had EMH (morning or evening) that day. And I do not have a problem with a paid event like Disney After Hours – just the price point, I always say the best money I have ever spent at WDW was the $10 pp for the old E-Ride Nights. If they brought some version of that back, where it was only available to on-site guests (for say…no more than $40-$50 pp), I would be in favor of that.

I agree with you. I avoid Evening EMH like the plague. I would much rather pay for the DAH events. Of course, it does help that there’s is the DVC discounted price for these tickets. Yes! Bring back the E-ticket!

Disney is a publically held BUSINESS with stock held by individuals as well as organized investors. As such it is corporate leadership’s responsibility to support the stock value and dividends This profit motive is garnered st the expense of “customers” who are willing, or unwilling, to pay a cost for services rendered. No one forcesbly requires “customers” to conduct BUSINESS with Disney.

This is exactly what hurts Disney loving people. Knowing that they are not required to “conduct business” with Disney. You’d be ok if Disney said to you… “If you don’t like it you are not required to patronize our parks”.

Nobody has to spend their money there and if Disney doesnt start appreciating the people that keep that business running then we will take our business elsewhere to a park down the road that does appreciate it!

This is so disappointing! One our favorite parts of our trip is late nights at MK! My teenager is not a morning person, even at Disney, and she loves the late nights, so she will be very disappointed, too. We can get so much more done then, and it is just fun! Disney wants more days to charge for extra events, and it is really sad.

We have 2 trips booked and will be staying onsite. Will be doing 2 more trips but they will be offsite. It is getting too expensive to stay onsite. The parking fee and taking away perks have made onsite less desirable for us.

This sucks if it’s true. We live evening emh because it’s cooler at night, less crowded and we can see so much more. And the photo ops at the end of the night are amazing. We are going in January and I foresee a lot more changes before then

I just don’t understand why they keep taking away the advantages of staying on sight? Just another way for Disney to milk a few more dollars out of you by making you pay for the Late nights…when will a benefit be announced that doesn’t cost you 50 – 100 extra? Over the past few years, Disney has started to slowly take away what really made the trip magical and replaced it with over priced events…it is truly sad.

I agree Lesley. Remember when you could fast pass fireworks or a parade? Or just get lucky and snag that parade spot facing the castle down in Town Square? I feel like that’s when all this started. We’re not only going to miss the pm emh’s, but the extended hours they used to have in spring and summer… or during busy times. That is gone. Very sad.

Not everyone wants to get up extra early on vacation. We have never, not once in 15 years of going at least once a year made it up for morning EMH or even rope drop. It’s not our thing. We shouldn’t be penalized for not being early risers during our time off.

Unlike some people we’re never awake for the late hours. But we are up early enough for the early hours AND the rope drop. But it IS unfair to those who enjoy it & now have to fork over more money. For what the tickets to get in and the ridiculous parking fees cost Disney should be trying a lot harder to accommodate those who do come to the parks and stay in their hotels.

I’m so sad to hear this development! I wonder if during the busiest time of year between Christmas and New Year’s will be any different?? That’s really when we enjoyed the late hours the most, but I sure will hate to fork over more money to do it as a DAH event instead. ….of course, I WILL fork it right over :)

Don’t like this. We love the late hours. It looks like Disney is in it for the money at this point. While I love the After Hours hard ticket, I’m starting to see Disney becoming a vacation destination for only the rich. It’s starting to not pay to stay on site anymore since the Disney Spring resorts now can do the 60 day FP. I don’t know what the answer is but people will start going every few years instead of every year or multiple times per year because they can’t afford it. My family loves Disney but it’s getting harder and harder to justify the cost. Next time I’m home this summer I may just make a stop at guest services and make my concerns known. Not that it will matter coming from one person but Disney need the feed back.

Late hours at MK aid truly one of our family’s favorite things about staying at WDW. We go every year we are the faced of the typical middle class Disney vacationer and none of the changes Disney have made lately are to our benefit. Everything they have done has made it harder to vacation there.

I don’t like it but it seems to be the future of the mouse. If it can be sold instead of given as a perk, they are going to sell it. It is just one more reason for me not to stay on site. Evening Magic Hours were the only reason we would stay on site.

It’s tough because there’s constant complaints about how crowded it is, which would indicate they’ve underpriced the tickets. (Hard to believe with how expensive they are, but if you can’t get a room and everyday is overcrowded, it’s pretty clear people think there’s a lot of value there). So, I hate to lose perks, but charging for them so only the people that use them need to pay rather than increasing the cost of all tickets seems fair to me.

It is a for profit company. The Magic is still there. David is right if it’s always full the price has not hit its maximum. Remember Disney created this place so kids would have a safe fun place to enjoy the entertainment and their families. It expensive to create new attraction and provide great service. It’s just change that come with being in a capitalist system. The issue will be when the quality starts to slip. That’s when you will see the decrease in attendance.

This is more in response to Joe. From what I can tell from reading the posts here and daily at KennythePirate, the quality has slipped. People say the magic is no longer there and they are treated like a number. I’m going in September. Haven’t been in three years, so I’ll see for myself, but there is a good chance this will be my last trip if this trend continues. Honestly, unless Galaxys Edge saves them, Universal has been kicking their butt in the theme park department for years anyways.

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